It's weird that today was maybe Keith Price's best game ever statistically. He looked below average by the standard he set in 2011.

Colorado is fiercely bad. I'm pretty sure they'd lose to the 2008 Huskies. The announcers were essentially celebrating that Colorado was only down 7 at the half, and popped out the champagne bottles when they kicked a field goal: Colorado's first points at home in over a month. The Cougars lost to this team? Wow. That's not a slam on WSU, more like it's a statement of disbelief. Portland State put up a much better fight in their game (in Seattle) than Colorado did in Boulder.

ASJ looks like the best NFL prospect UW has put out since Steve (shame about the injuries) Emtman.

That said, it's pretty clear that UW needs to go hunting for WRs this offseason. Kasen Williams has always been over-rated, and I think part of what's holding Price back is that too often ASJ is his only quality option. Mickens is kind of like a rookie Golden Tate. He'll occasionally make a nifty play but on the whole his mistakes hold the offense back. None of their other receivers seem starter worthy. For all the talk about the Seahawks WR group, it's UW's group that deserves far more talk of needing upgrades from the hometown fans. UW's O-line is basically as good as it's ever been in the Sark ever now, and yet Price still doesn't look quite like his old self. I have to believe it's because he feels the absence of Kearse and Aguilar out there. Last year Seattle had 4 legit downfield targets, 5 if you count Polk. This year it's just two. I'm sure that's having an impact.

I really like UW's pass rush. Josh Shirley is only a RS Sophomore and is kind of the Chris Clemons of that defense. The other guys can get after it too. I really like the ASJ experiment- he's playing a bit of a "Red Bryant" role on that D. He hasn't had a sack yet, but he's come close every game and he's surprisingly good at collapsing the pocket. I don't think he'll ever have the kind of production that Dion Jordan has, but it does certainly feel like he's helping the defense. He had a fumble recovery today and forced a TD preventing hold.

I think Sark is a solid coach. In many ways he reminds me of Pete Carroll, especially regarding his penchant for controlling the ball late in games and making strong mid-game adjustments.

Speaking of coaches, Colorado needs to start looking for one. Their current guy makes Keith Gilbertson look like Nick Saban.

Kearly - I've been thinking the same thing about KP's performance. He was inaccurate all night, and many of his TDs were either swing passes or inaccurate throws hauled in by good receivers. He had a great game statistically, and he generally made sound decisions, but I did not think he looked particularly good tonight. I was hesitant to bring it up since I figured I'd get lambasted for being so picky when the dude throws 5 TDs.

Col is bad, but I'm glad they're in the pac-12. Every other team in the nation gets to pad its stats with cupcake games, why shouldn't we?

How is Kasen Williams over-rated? The guy has been a very good receiver this year, a good downfield blocker, has struggled at times with drops, but has also been a big-play option in many games where ASJ was conspicuously absent. ASJ is the overall better player, but for a true sophomore, I'm perfectly satisfied with KW's performance (even if I wish he were a true superstar like ASJ). Mickens is a true freshman. ASJ is a true sophomore. This is a really young group of pass-catchers, and yeah, we need to bring in more talented young pass-catchers, but I would not at all be surprised to see Mickens and Williams perform much better next year. I seem to recall that Kearse wasn't always such a hot receiver, either.

Additionally, how much is Williams' production limited by the lack of pass protection along the UW line? And KP's bailing on the pocket even when not under pressure? I think it was you that advocated for giving KP some more of the benefit of the doubt until the line solidifies, but doesn't the same apply equally to deep threat wideouts if the deep passing game has been eliminated from the playbook?

jkitsune wrote:Kearly - I've been thinking the same thing about KP's performance. He was inaccurate all night, and many of his TDs were either swing passes or inaccurate throws hauled in by good receivers. He had a great game statistically, and he generally made sound decisions, but I did not think he looked particularly good tonight. I was hesitant to bring it up since I figured I'd get lambasted for being so picky when the dude throws 5 TDs.

Col is bad, but I'm glad they're in the pac-12. Every other team in the nation gets to pad its stats with cupcake games, why shouldn't we?

How is Kasen Williams over-rated? The guy has been a very good receiver this year, a good downfield blocker, has struggled at times with drops, but has also been a big-play option in many games where ASJ was conspicuously absent. ASJ is the overall better player, but for a true sophomore, I'm perfectly satisfied with KW's performance (even if I wish he were a true superstar like ASJ). Mickens is a true freshman. ASJ is a true sophomore. This is a really young group of pass-catchers, and yeah, we need to bring in more talented young pass-catchers, but I would not at all be surprised to see Mickens and Williams perform much better next year. I seem to recall that Kearse wasn't always such a hot receiver, either.

Additionally, how much is Williams' production limited by the lack of pass protection along the UW line? And KP's bailing on the pocket even when not under pressure? I think it was you that advocated for giving KP some more of the benefit of the doubt until the line solidifies, but doesn't the same apply equally to deep threat wideouts if the deep passing game has been eliminated from the playbook?

Kasen Williams is a very complete WR, I'll give you that. He had an awesome block IIRC on Sankey's big run, and he's always been a good blocker. I just don't get stars in my eyes when I watch him though. He's not great at getting open, his YAC is underwhelming, and while he does have good hands, he doesn't earn targets despite a dearth of competition in the WR corps. He's got physical talent and upside, but as a contributor he's been very ordinary, and frankly disappointing for a guy that's supposed to be UW's #1 WR. He had just 427 yards last season and only 620 so far this year. And it's not for a lack of throwing the ball. He's just not drawing very many targets- it's a huge reason why ASJ already owns the school reception record for TEs in less than two full seasons. It's kind of like Vernon Davis in SF, if your best receiver is a TE, it usually speaks to the quality of your WR corps.

Kearse didn't have good hands, but he did produce. His yards per catch was much higher than Williams, and he earned significantly more targets.

I hope I'm not coming across as "ripping" Williams, I just think that he's an "okay" receiver that's labeled a #1 and that's off the mark. And sadly, he's the only WR we currently have that I'd even call "okay" at this point. The rest of the group is pretty bad. And this is coming from someone that never blasted the Seahawks WR group when almost everyone else was. I'm generally pretty lenient with WRs. But this group is holding back the offense and Price, IMO. Too often he's looked and looked and looked and had to throw the ball away this season. The horrific pass blocking at the beginning of the season kind of masked that problem, but now that it's gotten better and the opposing pass rushes have gotten worse, it's becoming clearer that Price's problems went beyond his protection.

Price did have some bad throws today. He's part of this equation too. He hasn't been himself this season. That said, I think the dropoff in supporting cast from 2011 to 2012 could probably explain a lot of it. Price is at his best when he has a lot of options to throw at, and this year it's been ASJ or bust.

The Dawgs could end up 9-4.With most of the team coming back.I think they lose one starter on offense and 3 on D.Add the Alabama transfer to replace Trufant a healthy James Johnson(I think Price has really missed him) and another solid recruting class things could be looking better.Plus Shaq Thompson is a stud.Does he end up at LB when he is done or stay at safety?Great young ball player.

JSeahawks wrote:I know Washington has at least one really good receiver coming in next year in STringfellow.

Thanks. After looking it up, they also have a commit from Darrell Daniels, who's 6'2" or 6'3" and 210 pounds. Was said to be the "best WR in the west" for 2013, which is kind of weird since Stringfellow is also from the western US, same state even (California). Watched his HS tape and Daniels looks pretty dominating physically. Not saying he had NFL speed but he was basically the biggest guy on the field and outran everybody.

That's great news. Frankly, I never understood why a lot of teams recruit 3 deep at QB or RB but not at WR. WR is the one area it makes a ton of sense to recruit too many players. Maybe there just aren't a lot of blue chip WRs around?